LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather
never has forgotten the program that spawned his amateur boxing
career, the venerable Golden Gloves. That was evident this week when
Mayweather underwrote part of the national tournament, and committed
to pay for another major national tournament this year.

"I think a lot of champions
should give back," Mayweather said. "I think a lot of champions
should do what I'm doing."

Dave Packer, acting president of
Golden Gloves of America Inc., and a resident of the Grand Rapids
suburb of Walker, noted today that Mayweather is alone in that
regard.

"We're really grateful for
Floyd's contribution," Packer said. "Floyd is the only one that
has ever done it. He's the only fighter that has ever given back to
National Golden Gloves this way."

Mayweather donated $40,000 to the
National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, which is being
contested this week in Mesquite, Nev., and also committed to cover
the entire cost of the National Junior Golden Gloves, in July, also
in Mesquite.

Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather
Promotions, said the entire financial commitment is difficult to
pinpoint but would fall in the low six figures.

Mayweather grew up training in
gyms funded, in part or whole, by Grand Rapids-based Michigan Golden
Gloves.

He first burst into the amateur
limelight at age 16, when won the National Golden Gloves Tournament
of Champions. Mayweather entered Golden Gloves three times, in 1993,
1994 and 1996, and won national championships each time, in three
different weight divisions.

It isn't the first time Mayweather
has given generously to the program.

In 2008, when the National Golden
Gloves was contested at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Mayweather wrote
a $140,000 check to cover all operating expenses for the tournament.

He made that announcement the
night he appeared in WrestleMania XXIV in Orlando, Fla.